ROLAND GARROS

June 4, 2022

Coco Gauff

Press Conference

I. SWIATEK/C. Gauff

6-1, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Tough match today, but how proud are you to have reached your first Grand Slam final?

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, I'm super proud of myself. Feeling a lot of emotions right now. A mix of happiness and sadness. I'm going to take this experience and hopefully learn from it and get better.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Congratulations on these past two weeks. Could you just go through your emotions during the match. How nervous were you at the beginning, being down Love-4 and trying to get onto the scoreboard, et cetera?

COCO GAUFF: I wasn't as nervous really entering the match. I mean, obviously when I lost the first couple of games the nerves started to come, but when I lost the first set I really came out in the second and had a new mindset.

But I think for the most part I think that Iga was just too good today. I mean, it's one of those matches that, yes, I, in some moments, could have played better. But she really didn't give me anything. Every time I thought I hit a good ball, it wasn't.

There is a reason why she's on a winning streak. I'm just glad that I really -- I really tried my best today.

Q. Iga has this incredible record in finals.

COCO GAUFF: Yeah.

Q. Did that come across to you as different to the other matches you have played? What is the challenge like trying to play against her?

COCO GAUFF: I didn't really think about the statistics or record going into the match of my opponent. I think even if I played someone else, who probably wasn't on a winning streak or whatever, I think I would have been just as nervous and believed just as much. But I think she does a good job of taking the pressure moments and really rising to the occasion, and today she rose to the occasion.

I do that pretty well too, but today she was just on another level.

Q. Congratulations on your great run here at Roland Garros. What have been your happiest memories over the last two weeks? Has it been the way you have played your tennis, the support you have received from the crowds and people all around the world? Have you finally beaten your dad at a card game perhaps? Who knows? Just give us your thoughts, please.

COCO GAUFF: I don't know what my happiest moment has been. Hopefully it will be tomorrow if we can win in doubles. Hopefully that will be the happiest moment.

Regardless, I think from the singles, probably getting to the final, just because that's like -- obviously winning is the last hurdle, but reaching the final, I think, is almost as difficult because you are pretty close.

Yeah, I did beat my dad and my mom in a card game last night. I'm winning right now, we have one more day so hopefully I can keep that lead.

Q. You have played a lot of great players now in your few years on tour. Have you played anyone playing better tennis than Iga is playing right now?

COCO GAUFF: Probably not. I mean, I don't think I have played -- I mean, actually her and Ash were -- well, now Ash isn't playing anymore -- but when she was I would say those two are probably the two that when you go into the match they are the hardest to beat.

But I'm grateful to play both of them, because I feel like throughout my career and even in juniors the reason I had success so early is that I was able to see that level and then go back and practice and try to reach that level.

Now that I have seen the level, this level of No. 1 and 35 matches, I know that what I have to do. Hopefully next time I'm sure I'm going to play her in another final and hopefully it's a different result.

Q. Given the confidence you have gained from this tournament, can you now go to Wimbledon and to potentially the US Open and feel as a contender, feeling like you have a chance at being someone who can get to the latter stages?

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, I definitely feel like this helped my confidence a lot. I just think even when I was 15, 16, 17, I felt like so much pressure to make a final.

Now that I made it, I feel like a relief a little bit. So, yeah.

Q. I wanted to ask, is there something in particular about your game that you learned over these two weeks? Maybe something that can help you moving forward. I'd also like to ask about Iga. If you could describe what it is like to face her when she's playing at this level. Maybe what specifically in terms of strokes or demeanor or what it is that she does so well.

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, my game, I feel like I learned a lot. A lot of confidence on both sides. I mean, I know my backhand is something that everyone talks about, but really I think what got me to the final was my forehand. So I have a lot of confidence going in, and I would say this is the best I have played on both sides, forehand and backhand.

Even my serve, you know, double faults have been a problem in the past for me, and I felt like this tournament it hasn't been a problem really for me.

Regarding Iga, I don't know, I think she does everything pretty well on the court. I think probably the best thing I think she does is changing direction really well. Shots that are -- you know, I think from playing other players, you're not used to seeing so many winners down the line off of certain shots, so you're not prepared to even run in that direction.

I think she does a good job with that and taking the ball early. I think you have no time. And on clay, it's something difficult to do. Even the heavy balls that I tried to throw in there, she was taking them early and hitting winners off of them.

I think that she does a good job on that.

Q. Congratulations, Coco. You spoke just a few questions ago about kind of your relief I guess in getting to this final. You have had a lot of hype around you for many years. Now that you have got that first final out of the way, and now that that relief has set in, like you made it to the top, do you feel like it's going to help you to kick on now and maybe play with even more freedom knowing, Okay, I've done it now?

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, I think so. I think like going into tournament, honestly I didn't expect a final.

I think that it came from like being a mix -- I mean, this year I feel like there was a mix like my mentality. I think beginning of this year I lost Australian Open and a couple first rounds, and I think I was just going into the matches trying so hard to win, but not for myself but for other people.

I think this tournament was the first tournament this year that I went in trying to win for myself, and I think that was the difference in my mentality. I think that now that I have found that mental state, I know how to get there. I think it will help me in future tournaments.

Q. I'd like to know, the other day you mentioned something about the guns in the United States and the problem. Today Iga encouraged the Ukrainians to keep fighting and remember that there was a war on. Do you think sport athletes and champions like you are can influence somehow with this kind of declaration what people think, you can help what's going on? Do you agree on that, that you should take some time, some commitments or say something?

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, definitely, I wouldn't say anything if I didn't think it was going to influence anybody. Also with Iga, I think it's wonderful she brought that up in her speech. I mean, there is so much emotions going on during the awards ceremony, so for her to bring that up, I thought that was really nice and thoughtful of her.

I think in general, I think using sports as a platform is important. I feel like, I don't know how many people watch the final or how many people watch my semifinal match, but I'm sure it's in the hundreds of thousands, so that message reached that many people. Between all the retweets and all that, it reaches even more people.

I think that it's important that we mention these things. You know, I even saw some messages, Oh, writing something isn't going to end it. I agree. It's not about writing a message just to end it, it's not going to stop on the spot, I agree.

But for me, it's about influencing people and influencing the leaders that are in office and leaders around the world maybe to hear that message.

Q. Obviously there is disappointment, but there has to be so much to be proud of. Don't take this the wrong way, but what are the tears for? The tears disappointment at losing? The tears are for something else? Because there has to be plenty of pride in what you have achieved.

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, I think for me I just don't know how to handle the emotions right now. So the tears just come (smiling).

I try really hard not to, like, cry on the court, and I knew whether I won or lost I was. But really, I feel happy really and sad, so it's like, I don't know how to handle it. I hate myself for crying. I even told the -- I have to get drug tested and I told the lady, like, Do I look like I've been crying for so long? I don't know whether to smile or cry.

I think for me it's just how I respond to everything going on. Because I think for right now like emotionally it's just a lot for me to handle, and I'm like trying really hard not to break.

Q. I just wondered, presumably reaching a Grand Slam final is something you have thought about and dreamt about for years. I just wondered, taking the results and the match aside, the experience of it, the moment of walking out there, how much was different or similar, the reality to what you had imagined?

COCO GAUFF: I think it was very different. I feel like, I mean, even saying this, I feel like the moment was definitely more minimal than I thought.

I mean, in the match it probably looked like I was freaking out, but really it was just Iga was too good. I wasn't freaking out.

So I think the moment, I wasn't as nervous as I thought I was going to be. And I think, I don't know how to handle it really. I didn't think that it was going to happen.

I think, I guess the journey to get here I realized the key to making the final was not something with my game or something that I needed to fix. It was more with my mentality and how I entered the matches. I think that's what I think the difference between me dreaming it and reality, I realized that, yes, it's hard to get here, but also, it's not like some master puzzle that you need to solve. You just kind of have to get your mind in the right place.

I think over the years watching other players get to the semis and you see that sometimes they kind of freak out or in the final and they kind of freak out, a lot of times I feel like they think it's something wrong with their game or this shot isn't working. Really, it's not. I think we are all great players.

For other players in the locker room, I think everyone's a great player. I think it's really just about how your mind's set and minimizing the moment. I think just talking with other players in the locker room, I think that it's important to minimize the moment.

I think me going in, I know I've been saying a lot, Oh, it's just a tennis match, you know, it doesn't matter. Really, that's what I believe. It doesn't matter. I mean, with the emotions now I'm feeling it a lot, but tomorrow I'm going to wake up and be really proud of myself.

Q. I was talking to your dad. He said this was the first Grand Slam she hasn't had homework.

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, he's right.

Q. It's a good line, but he felt like it was maybe helpful in some ways mentally to keep you fresh. Going forward now you are in a different part of your life. Do you think that had an impact here and could have an impact going forward?

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, for me I think it helped a lot, just because I felt like this year the tennis results weren't where I wanted them to be, and I think just having something like that moment was something good for me in my head.

I think it really put in -- seeing how much attention those graduation photos I got from just other people, Michelle Obama reposted that, and for me I think it reminded me that people are proud of me outside of tennis.

I think going in, I think that moment really changed my perspective going into the tournament, the fact that so many people were happy and proud of me. I got almost pretty much the same amount of text messages when I finished that to today or yesterday when I made the final.

So I think finishing that and finishing school made me realize that I'm more than a tennis player, and that was really something that I was struggling with.

Q. Congratulations. Thank you for having this nice press conference. My question is after the first set, how did you pull yourself together? What were you thinking strategy-wise? What do you think worked in the beginning of the second set when you broke?

COCO GAUFF: I think going into the first set strategy-wise, at first I was just really just trying to hit the ball, like not play too passive. I knew that the nerves were going to be there. I think that for me going into the match, my goal was just those first couple games to really hit, and I think I did that for the most part.

Going into the second to break, I mean, she gave me some errors in that game, so I don't know if it was entirely me or a little bit of her.

But strategy-wise, I mean, going in, honestly it was tough to come up with something with someone hasn't lost in a while. So I think my coach and I, he put a scouting report together against her and I tried my best to follow it. But obviously, you know, you can't do everything that you plan on the court.

Q. I just wanted to ask you about your family. Obviously your family have been a huge support for you during your year and you mentioned about playing cards last night with them. How has it been, what their reaction has been this past fortnight with you and how they have continued to kind of keep you grounded in this big moment?

COCO GAUFF: My family means a lot to me. My brothers came. I think that's really where most of the tears come from, because I wanted it so bad for myself, and I know they wanted it so bad for me.

After the match, my little brother was crying and I felt so bad, because I was trying to just tell him, It's just a tennis match. I'm like, Why are you crying? I'm like, I'm crying too, I know. Everybody's crying.

My physio was crying, and I was like, Jeez. I don't think they were crying that I lost really. It wasn't that. I think they just saw me -- you know, I'm pretty happy and outgoing if people know me personally. I think for them to see me so upset, I think that's what hurt them the most.

Tomorrow, or even tonight, we're going to play cards again and we are going to laugh and we are going to be fine.